The Witch-hunt Diaries (Lockdown in Cornwall)

Over the past few weeks I have been gobsmacked by some of the attitudes of people here in Cornwall…

It’s crazy that I’m even here sat writing this post.

I don’t want to have to write this, but after a night of no sleep I’ve decided I’ve been ranting a little too much on Instagram (oops) so thought this might be a better, more in-depth outlet for me.

I’m also a far better writer than I am speaker, so there’s that.

At the moment there’s so much on social media from the point of view of people telling tourists to stay away/stay home and reminding hospitality businesses to close (completely justified, FYI – if done with kindness). Some are sharing these messages positively, trying to be helpful (everyone is concerned about our elderly population and our limited hospital resources here), but many have been taking it to the extreme – which is what this post is about.

So I think it’s really important for the other point of view to be shared and heard. The point of view of what it’s like right now for hospitality accommodation businesses in Cornwall.

Context

My partner Alex runs a holiday village here in Cornwall, with over 40 cottages on site, about 15% of which are residential (ie. people live there permanently). Currently, as per government advice and lockdown regulations, the business is not taking guest bookings throughout April or May. There are a couple of people here who are either key workers or had no where else to go due to house completions being delayed and tenancies ended, but other than that the site is closed to holiday-makers.

It says so clearly on the company website, and if someone were to try and book, they would be met with a COVID-19 Closure message.

March 30th 2020

It’s easy to feel the tension bubbling under the surface now.

Facebook Groups have always been known for their controversial topics and threads with endless troll comments, usually lead by characters of questionable motive and very little common sense. Particularly the Cornwall ones.

If you know, you know.

Just like during the election, extreme opinions are emerging, leading to heated arguments and – predictably – the descent of ‘sheeple’ (The Easily Led) who are happy to take the viewpoints of the loudest in the group as Truth and distribute among their circles with no further research or questioning.

Whether it’s posts telling ’emmets’ (holiday-makers) to f**k off, or the ‘naming and shaming’ of local Cornish businesses who are supposedly still open, these are coming in thick and fast, and the hostility is starting to concern me.

April 4th 2020

It started with just messages and emails, but today it seems we’ve progressed to phone calls.

It’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon, but instead of being out in the garden enjoying the sunshine and getting on with the weekend (#StayingHome, don’t worry!), Alex has been stuck indoors responding to calls from people who clearly have far too much time on their hands and no indoor hobbies to amuse themselves with.

First up, there’s those trying to ‘catch him out’; the type who try to book a holiday over the phone, but when told they can’t because the business is closed to holiday-makers, exclaim ‘Well GOOD, because you should be closed’.

Brilliant.

Then there are the ones who call up just to inform Alex that he is immoral for keeping his business open to holiday makers. This type of person clearly couldn’t be bothered to check if their facts are correct before launching into these accusations, because if they’d spent 10 seconds on the company website, they’d see a large ‘WE’RE CLOSED’ banner and find themselves unable to book through the system.

I must say I wouldn’t have half the patience that Alex does to deal with all this. He answers their concerns politely and calmly, talking them through where to find the information in question on the website, and trying to understand why they seem to think he’s open in the first place.

As it turns out, the business has been publicly (and falsely) ‘named and shamed’ on a Facebook Group.

Of course.

But before we can go off in search of this post, Alex receives another call; this time from Cornwall Council, informing him that someone has reported his business for breaking the COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

Alex patiently talks through the website set up on the phone, and the lady agrees he’s done everything he can to be clear, and apologises for wasting his time. Alex then phoned back the people from earlier in the day to inform them that yes, the Council has also confirmed that you are wasting peoples’ time (although in much nicer terms…).

Despite his calm phone presence, and polite responses to the incoming messages, I want you to understand that this isn’t just water off a duck’s back. When someone accuses you of something wrongly, or attacks your business behind your back, it’s not as easy as just forgetting about it and moving on.

It worms its way into your mind and rots there, so even if you’re doing something else, the thought never truly goes away and only gets worse and takes up more space until the problem is solved.

And so we go in hunt of the Facebook Group post in question, and eventually find it, but after attempting to join the group to comment and set people straight, we both get blocked. Some of our friends managed to find their way in and inform people that the post is incorrect – the business is in fact closed – however shortly after, the admin of the group deletes all the comments.

This is why I urge people to be cautious in Facebook Groups.

Admins can be selective of what gets shown, and edit or censor things to fit their own motives, essentially like a dictatorship. So don’t believe everything you read.

April 6th 2020

After a couple of sleepless nights for us both, and more hours spent diffusing one-sided arguments from yet more bored hobby-less people, this whole situation is starting to remind me George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.

Whilst I know the UK is no way in the grips of a dictatorship right now, the lockdown rules and temporary restrictions are bringing out some interesting traits in members of society.

Typically, in these authoritarian state books, you get three types of people: the rule breakers, the rule followers, and the rule enforcers. The latter usually being the most irritating characters in the book, I might add.

The rule enforcers are the ones who take it upon themselves to inform on others and generally tell tales, even if it means hurting innocent people in the process. They’re the spies and whistleblowers who are incentivised by nothing except their own boredom and miserable lives.

Sure, I’m still talking about the book characters 🙄

April 8th 2020

After sharing this whole saga on Instagram, I am pleased with the supportive messages I’ve received, but also saddened to hear of other people suffering in these Interesting Times.

I’ve had people share that their own businesses have had the same hateful messages, despite following the rules themselves.

I’ve had people tell me they’ve been yelled at in their local shop because people didn’t recognise them and thought they were down here on holiday.

I’ve also been told that one person had a man staying in their holiday cottage who had to stay there to attend his mother’s funeral as one of the only people who could go, and this man had hate letters posted through the door telling him to eff off home.

What bothers me most about all this is that these are local people, picking on local small businesses. Local businesses who have had to furlough their staff and who have already lost huge amounts of money, with no end in sight. These are local businesses run by neighbours and friends, and families who are struggling to make ends meet.

And yet there are people who seem perfectly happy to rub salt in the wound and turn their backs on the same businesses who prop up their local economy the rest of the year.

April 9th 2020

The witch-hunt (as I’ve begun to call it) has reached new heights today, as Alex receives another phone call from the Council, this time claiming that someone has reported him for having people going in and out of cottages on the site.

Exasperated, Alex relays to the lady that people do in fact live here, and offers to send her a full list of everyone who is currently on site. A simple search online can bring up this information, and once again he points out to her how much stress and wasted time this is causing everyone.

During the conversation, it comes out that whoever reported him this time could only have seen the residential cottages mentioned if they had walked through the site themselves, which would in fact be trespassing. Alex points out that these people have clearly broken the law in order to try and report him for breaking the law, and that the Council officer should really be reporting them to the police.

She said she will, although I have my doubts.

So now Alex is not only dealing with the stress of people spreading false rumours online and wrongly reporting him to the Council, he is also now concerned about random people snooping around the site deliberately trying to find things to get his business in trouble.

They won’t find anything, but that is besides the point.

Having people bad-mouth your business is bad enough without knowing that it must be local people doing it, when of course you’d always hope that locals would have your back.

It’s a horrible feeling, and like I said, it lurks in your brain and makes it hard to focus. Hard to sleep. Hard to carry on without feeling dejected and depressed that not only is your business losing money, it’s receiving this hostility.

Who are these ‘rule enforcers’ going around trying to report people? What is there to gain?

You’re worried for your NHS, I get it. And you’re worried for your people.

But dear God, have some empathy. You’re causing hours of stress and sleeplessness to people who haven’t done anything wrong. So please, be kind.

Why am I sharing this?

As I say, I want the other side of this story to be heard. Whilst I don’t personally work in hospitality or run a hospitality business, someone I love does and seeing the toll it takes is upsetting.

I’ve also been messaged by people on Instagram feeling the same way, and feeling really ashamed to be Cornish right now. I can sympathise.

I want hospitality business owners in Cornwall and across the UK to know that local people still have their backs and want to support them, and I want people who come on holiday to Cornwall to think of us as kind and welcoming – not hostile and rude.

We will need you more than ever when this is all over, so why some people are behaving this way is beyond me.

Anyway, if you’ve read this far, thank you for listening to what is essentially a long-winded rant. But I had to let off some steam somewhere, and if I can’t do that here on my little space of the internet, then where can I?

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Comments

I’m glad I live In yorkshire 😍I’m originally from Devon so i know the rivalry……..it’s not grim up North it’s friendly xx stay safe I own the Alexander in Scarborough if you are ever up pop In for a cuppa . Best wishes keep the faith julie

I have noticed similar insanities here in Brighton. For example a woman in a group set up to support local businesses doing delivery services during the lockdown, and local people trying to access deliveries. And a woman in the group vilifying a groceries van that sets up shop in various locations over the week. They had closed for a couple of weeks, but were advertising their reopening – with a detailed paragraph asking people to distance in the queue, and letting people know they would only be allowed inside the van itself one at a time. A woman was hysterically putting them down for breaking the lockdown and declaring she was going to ring the police. I think that this situation is ramping up fear and anxiety, and in certain people it emerges in this kind of noxious behaviour. They haven’t learnt to check themselves, or think before they act. They feel they need to step in and do something, and they don’t question whether their something is helping or hindering, or valid in any way at all. It brings an enormous wave of understanding in regards to stories i heard about people’s behaviour during the war, for example.

Oh no that’s so sad – especially when people are trying to do something nice for the community!
Thankfully so far we’ve found the people who actually work for the Council are very kind and understanding, and I’ve heard the police are being in good spirits about things and have much more common sense than the people who are actually doing the reporting.
It’s sad what fear will do to people!

Hi Anna, I totally empathise with you. I’m a community mental health nurse, but my husband runs Encounter Walking Holidays, so have clearly been hit. Fully supportive of the lockdown, but any discussions about an exit strategy such as community testing, contact tracing & isolating cases as suggested (with Cornwall as one of the counties identified as a possibility) is met with hostility & an immense amount of ignorance. How do people think we are going to survive without tourism for 18 months / 2 years – we won’t.

Anyway, the stazi have been out in force & the pitchforks are at the ready!

I’ve seen similar things on the Cornish Facebook groups and pages, and it’s disgusting. While i agree (as does everyone else) that Holiday makers should stay at home, there are nice, kind ways to say that.
I’m so sorry that Alex has been met with this kind of behaviour. It’s totally uncalled for, and must be incredibly upsetting for you both!

I visit Cornwall every single year, and will continue to do so as long as it’s open for business. I have my fingers crossed for September this year if restrictions are lifted and we can travel. I’ve got this far in my comment and suddenly realised that I don’t actually know what I want to say, other than to express frustration and disappointment at such small minded behaviour. I work in the Emergency Services and in my job you get to see both the best and worst in people. The current situation just seems to polarise the differences. The good and the nice are stepping up to be even better and even nicer, the bad are doubling down and taking things to extremes. Somewhere and someday there is another side to this national crisis and hopefully everyone will reflect upon how they behaved. Be they modern day saints, hoarding shoppers or spiteful, vindictive ne’er do wells, they’ll have to live with themselves- and maybe some are just fine with that. Having followed your blog for sometime I’m more than confident that you’ll shine on the other side of this. The sun will rise on the day when Cornwall opens for business, and we’ll be back because the place and the nice people eclipse the bad. Keep doing what you do and writing as you do.

I did wonder if the lake district was the same. It’s very much pitch forks at the ready here mid Wales too. I agree with the community in that the issue here is not that people have to stay away it’s the way the locals are telling people to stay away, it’s like a whole communities of spitting snakes are finding a voice through Facebook and the press at the moment.

I’m so sorry you guys have had to deal with this when you should be just enjoying this gift of down time to be together and not have to think about much!
Sounds like people aren’t following their own aggressive advice to ‘stay at home’ but are instead sneaking about like they’re beyond the rules? Not sure that trespassing counts as essential daily exercise but there you go! I tend to avoid facebook like the plague (is it too soon to replace that idiom with Covid-19?) and so far have only heard the good stories of community spirit so it’s really awful to hear that this is bringing out the worst in people :(

I hope you guys get respite soon from that madness and that these people use their time more productively, like maybe taking up a new hobby or literally anything beyond trying to sabotage small businesses.

Thanks so much for your comment Sarah. Yes, I’m not sure trespassing counts as essential either 😂 It’s been a stressful few weeks but feels so much better to let it all out in this post. I forgot how therapeutic writing is sometimes!

Hope you both and the little one are staying safe and doing well :) At least Lyra will hopefully have fond memories of being able to spend all this time with her family.

I consult for a popular restaurant which was quite clearly closed early on when asked by the gov. However because it’s a popular walking spot and a really sunny day people were sat outside and near by, even after ignoring requests to Move from staff still there. Someone takes a picture of this, posts it on a Facebook group and then in comes a flood of abusive messages and a huge amount of comments wrongly accusing. Not one person phoned to actually ask. So damaging for a business actually doing nothing wrong. It is infuriating what is happening to people psychologically. It’s scary but more importantly completely unacceptable. These people need to get a grip and support those around them. Sorry you guys have to deal with this horrible situation. ❤️

I have to add – as a ‘key worker’ in Cornwall and just finishing a four day week of over 50 hours I was slightly dazed when visiting the largest supermarket in St Austell first thing this morning, – I witnessed and experienced the very worst of Cornwall people, yes there’s arrows for a reason and yes we all know to stay 2 metres apart (90% of people do this as a natural reaction as they know it is saving lives and precious NHS resources) but seeing elderly people visibly anxious as they witness other customers and staff shouting at each other for walking in the wrong direction I came away completely traumatised !! What an earth happened to the #bekind culture of February – oh and there were camper vans in the car Park that no one seemed bothered by , I am sure they were there as part of essential travel for someone ? 🙄 who knows??? but beware of going across the shopping lanes, as someone will shout at you and reduce you to tears … yes, I saw that too – with all this I have made the decision to NEVER use this supermarket brand ever again… sure they won’t care but I can do without the trauma in my day in aid of my own good mental health! I think we can all agree this current covid situation is bringing the best and very very worst out right now …

So sorry you are experiencing this hostility. Cornwall will desperately need these visitors once this awful crisis is over. People will want to stay in the UK, but will choose their destination carefully. My daughter works in a Nottingham hospital with covid patients, she can’t wait to get down to Cornwall for a well earned break when the time is right, let’s hope she is welcomed as being someone helping to rebuild the Cornish economy and not as an interloper. Stay safe everyone and for goodness sake, be nice!

Gosh I hope she is given a good welcome and she doesn’t feel any of this hostility! I really do hope people will come to their senses or tensions will be released once people actually have something to do again and aren’t sat at home being bored and angry!

The reason I read to the end is that your piece is so well-written. Thank you for sharing it.

I have a very closed B&B in Yorkshire. I thank my lucky stars I no longer live in my last flat. Having to negotiate a stairwell with a hypocrite enforcer neighbour might have led to her being tipped over the edge.

************
Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end.
(The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)

Awh thank you Eileen I’m so glad you liked the post. And yes I can’t imagine living in a flat right now – heart goes out to everyone who is in close quarters with these types of enforcers; it can’t be easy!

I absolutely adore Cornwall and it was a holiday on The Lizard five years ago that persuaded me to move back to England after 25 years in California.

My daughter is a student trapped in a tiny room in Penryn with no way to get home (and we all know about the appalling relationship between the students and the townsfolk in Falmouth). In the next few days, I’ll have to drive down to pick her up and I’m more than a little worried about the pitchforks that will await me in Penryn. My best idea is to get some UN flags for the car and to not stop for longer than it takes to load up the car and drive home.

So sorry to hear this. I am in West Wales and there are “pitchforks out” here too by some people. I get off lightly – because I live here now – but am fed-up with being cross-questioned as to where I live in virtually every conversation by a “little Hitler” that tells themselves that it’s any of their business. I can give the “right” answer – but they still should not be questioning me in the first place. Sounds like you are on the receiving end of some really bad vitriol and, quite frankly, in your husbands position there would be one quick/calm/logical “explanation” to latest “little Hitler” and, if there was literally one word more from them, then my response would be STFU (and I’m not the sort to swear like that normally) – but yes they would be told firmly to “Shut the F**k Up”.

Yep, ‘Little Hitler’ is a fairly accurate description I’d say! It’s scary to see how quickly people will turn on one another. Thank goodness most of the people at the Council and in the police are in good spirits and have more common sense than these people and are generally much kinder!

Just wanted to comment to say I’m so sorry to hear that this is going on down there for you guys, that’s so awful – hopefully people will calm the eff down and stop letting fear overtake them and behaving like such morons. I think posts like yours are really important to make people aware of the impact that this negative behaviour is having on businesses and on peoples mental health right now. Would be good to see this kind of narrative appear on local news sites, to counterbalance the barrage of shouty fear-mongering click-batey pieces dominating at the moment! Anyway, regular reader here – really enjoy your blog and wish you and your partner all the best going forward. And as Brian Blessed once said… ‘Don’t let the b*****ds get you down!’ x

Thanks so much Becky that’s really kind of you to say. I’ve actually been contacted by local news today so might be something that starts getting covered as more people share this side of the story!
Thanks again :) love that quote!

I agree with this article completely. I own a campsite in Cornwall (west) and the amount of people I have seen (now these are normally well mannered, level headed people) putting f*** off tourists, etc etc on articles or whatever. I am appalled!! Tourists keep our county going! And as you said we will need them more than ever whenever this ends! Disgusting what people are putting! I understand we are all under a lot of pressure but this really has made people show their true colours! 😔

What is it about these strange times that brings out some much bitternes,envy and bile in people?
I wish you and Alex all the very best for the future , better times will come again.
Karma has a long memory
Very best wishes
Sue

I got to start by defending my race lol…. Most of us Cornish are as sick of attitudes as any. You can be 80% certain the real little hiltler types are not actually Cornish but may live here permanently. As was known well when I was young if a cat has kittens in an oven it don’t make them buns…..

We Cornish get blamed a lot yet traditionally (and arguably why the Cornish are so marginal) we just can’t be bothered,… We do Drekly far to well and we sort of happy just doing things our way. We do get tired of being attacked for being Cornish especially in Cornwall

However

Our way was never even at the heights of Nationalism in the late 1920’s and ’70’s (yep I studied Cornish History, lived through some of it and also learned young as I was raised by Nationalists lol) whats going on in parts of society now.

Your callers I don’t think are not representative of the Cornish…. They may not even be Cornish they could be Emmetts…. See Emmetts never were Visitors. Its why they were called Emmetts after working ants.

I been put down all my life for being Cornish. I accept we are sometimes narrow minded, we don’t like change, we don’t feel (and I am sure I really don’t) rely on holiday trade. We get tired of lack of work (again all my life kids have struggled to find full time work.) We get sick of detrimental changes in the Dutchy but we very rarely bother to do anything about it … We then get accused of being defeatist but really we just can’t be bothered Life is too short so why make agro.

Thats the Cornish I know. The ones I grew up knowing the ones I still miss.

I will always defend my Race. There is good and bad in every Race. You mention St A … Not many Cornish accents heard there now a days is there? You knocking the Cornish but really its PEOPLE not a Race of people.

The question why is this happening is of more value than what Race they are.

The biggest problem, I think, is people are scared and very worried. Press reports over end of life-care, letters being sent re DNR, isolation from friends and even family all make this high charged fear culture that some cope with better than others. Add in not able to go out, being told (and this I do dislike very much) Shop your Neighbour to both the Police and the Council and sadly people get hurt,.

Axe grinding has never been easier. I truly dislike this shop your neighbour attitude of police and council. Covid will eventually go away but agro between neighbours can take decades to go…..

This is what society sometimes does when in crisis but its not about pitchfork wielding yokels …. I am true local but can’t be bothered to use a pitchfork for anything other than farm work. They are good for that though ….I do own one lol.

Please stop saying its the Cornish cos I bet you a turnip its not …. Its people that live in Cornwall, its people in general but its not a race of people at all.

I hope Covid soon buggers off. I hope people stay safe and I hope so much families torn apart from this horrible virus find peace. I also truly hope society recovers and our true basic natures win over fear.

Ditto, partner runs a holiday park here. Ditto everything you’ve said. Just to back up everything you’ve said, some friends of ours have a home in Porthleven. They have another home in Spain. Just as they were returning to Spain, the country was Put in lockdown so they obviously came home to Porthleven. At the local supermarket, someone took it upon themselves to punish them for being second home owners (dont know how they knew) by pouring tins of chopped tomatoes all over the car and leaving the tin lids in the car door handles. They avoided serious injury thankfully but they didnt go and report it as they just wanted ti get home and not expose themselves to more people and more risk by. Just thought it was the most sickening thing to do. Hope this blog helps educate people better – if not the enforcers, the sheep x